Mothergood®

Want to know all the labor and delivery essentials? Labor and delivery nurse, Trish, shares all of her wisdom about giving birth. We chat about what you should pack in your hospital bag, what to expect during triage, the most common interventions and their risks/benefits, pain management, inductions, how your partner can best support you during delivery, various pushing positions, what to expect during a c-section, VBACs, plus more! Whether you are a first time mom or fifth time mom, you will learn so much and enjoy this episode.

Actress Ashley Bratcher, who plays the lead role in Unplanned, talks about her journey to motherhood, balancing motherhood with being an actress, and living with bipolar disorder. She explains why she chose life amidst and unplanned pregnancy in her own life. She also is transparent about the struggles of having a demanding career while being present for her son. Finally, she chats about why she views her bipolar diagnosis as a blessing, and how she manages it in her life.

Gut health is so important to overall health, and most do not know that know pelvic floor physical therapy can help with. As mothers, many of us deal with constipation at some point in our motherhood journey whether it is during pregnancy, early postpartum, or it has been a lifelong issue. Dr. Betsey shares actionable steps can we take to help ease constipation and improve gut health. Maintaining proper gut health ultimately can lead to better labor, delivery, recovery, and overall well-being as well.

Link to Dr. Betsey Caldwell's Birth Class: The Push Lab

Use code "Mothergood" for $20 off Dr. Betsey's birth class!

Steps to Ease Constipation:

1. Set yourself up for success. Use a squatty Potty. We want knees higher than your hips. For centuries, humans defecated in a squat position. That seems very caveman-esque, but it's the truth. That is because our body's were anatomically designed to defecate in a squat.

   1. Click here to see what squatty potty looks like

   2. WHY - We need to activate our parasympathetic nervous system - the rest and digest NS

2. Slow down the process. Don't Rush a BM. I know as moms we can have multiple kiddos screaming at us when we are trying to relax to have a bowel movement. Try keeping special toys in the bathroom that they ONLY get to play with when you need to poo. That should give you 10 minutes!

   1. Try to respond to the urge to defecate within 10-15 minutes if you cannot respond immediately. IF we consistently ignore the urge, overtime, our body will stop sending us signals.

3. Pay attention to your urges! Don't ignore the urge.

   1. Make sure you sip and do not chug.

   2. For some of us, smoothies and carbonated drinks including sparkling water can worsen constipation.

4. Drink half your bodyweight in ounces of water daily.

5. Pay attention to stress.

1. 1. I know we are living in a very stressful world right now but not only will managing our stress levels help us strengthen our immune system to fight off any virus or illness we get entering into flu season, it will also help regulate our bowel movements.

   2. When I say MANAGE stress levels what I actually mean is learning how your body internalizes stress. Which leads me to my last tip...

6. Stop Gripping your muscles to cope with stress.

For example, do you grip your jaw, your shoulder blades, your belly muscles, your glutes (butt muscles) or your pelvic floor?

When we do these compensation patterns, we are internalizing stress and it can actually slow gut transit

Dr. Betsey Caldwell's Bio

Betsey Caldwell is a Doctor of Physical Therapy who specializes in pelvic health and women's health. After consistently hearing from her patients, "why didn't anyone teach me about my pelvic floor sooner?" she has made it her mission to spread pelvic health awareness and education on social media.

Is it possible to be healthy while growing your family and career? Bett Lucas says "yes!" and shares her experience. She is a busy mom of six and works full time as a Vice President in the energy industry. She has won numerous awards for her leadership and charitable projects. She shares her practical tips and secrets on how she stays healthy while being both a professional and mother.

Do you need wisdom on how to make it through a difficult season in life? Speaker and author Mary Lenaburg tells the heart-rending story how caring for her severely disabled daughter affected her self-image, her marriage, her family life, and her faith. With audacious authenticity about the challenges we all encounter, Lenaburg shares her struggles with control, blame, exhaustion, fear, acceptance, self-sacrifice, trust, choosing joy, and much more.

Emily Kearney, founder of Mothergood, shares her postpartum story and why it lead to the founding of Mothergood. She shares her unique postpartum struggles, how she navigated the wild west that is postpartum to find physical healing, plus a hilarious and embarrassing story from her current pregnancy. Mothergood was founded two years ago as a positive, yet authentic, place for mothers to become the best mom versions of themselves and navigate the world of motherhood. Most mommy places are so judgmental. And, that is why it is so important to have Mothergood, a judgment-free space within the context of evidence-based research, to grow to your full potential as mother.

Have you known a woman who had an abortion or almost considered having one? Mother and daughter, Martha and Kiki Rocha, share their vulnerable and personal story of how Martha had two abortions prior to Kiki and almost aborted Kiki. Martha explains why she found herself in a situation where she did not feel like she had a choice, but to abort. At the very last moment, Martha chose life and ultimately, motherhood, and discusses why it was both a difficult and easy decision at the same time. Kiki shares how the knowledge of her mother's story has impacted her life.

Is it possible to pursue your dreams while being a mother? Lisa Canning, life coach and author of The Possibility Mom, says, "yes!" Although, as Lisa discusses in the is episode, may involve some creativity, assessment, and reconsidering what your dream as a mom looks like. Lisa, a former HGTV interior stylist, shares her wisdom on how to fit motherhood and dreams together in this episode.

Did you know that 1 in 10 women are diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)? And, one symptom of PCOS is infertility, which affects 1 in 10 women trying to conceive. Something that often catches women off-guard is secondary infertility, which is infertility after previously having one or more children. Claire Couche shares her experience with PCOS and secondary infertility, as well as her heart for women going through similar situations.

Need a little motherhood comedic relief? This year has be a doozy so far, and we figured all of us could use some laughs. Stand-up comedian and actress Elisabeth Wykert shares some thoughts on being a mom, stay-at-home life, quarantine, giving birth, body image, plus more.